Flanagan honored for her work on abuse prevention

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By Jonathan Riley

Statehouse Correspondent

BOSTON -- The governor's office declared April "Child Abuse Prevention Month" at a Beacon Hill ceremony Tuesday that included state Sen. Jennifer Flanagan receiving a "Valuing Our Children Award."

"I'm honored that as we celebrate Child Abuse Prevention Month, they thought of the work I've done on these issues," Flanagan, a Leominster Democrat, said in a phone interview later in the day, as she was unable to attend the event.

Jay Curley, a board member of the Children's Trust Fund, which hosted Tuesday's event, called Flanagan "a tireless champion of the Children's Trust throughout the Statehouse."

"She's deeply committed to these issues," Curley said.

Children's Trust is a quasi-governmental agency that receives state and outside funding through a nonprofit branch.

During Tuesday's ceremony, 409 children's shoes lined the steps of the Grand Staircase at the Statehouse, representing the number of children abused weekly in the state, according to the trust.

State Rep. Paul Donato, a Democrat from Medford, also received an award and spoke at the event, saying he is deeply honored.

Children's Trust organizers said Massachusetts has made advances in preventing abuse, but also addressed an issue overshadowing Tuesday's event -- the ongoing controversy over the state Department of Children and Families.

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"It is so easy to point the finger at the Department of Children and Families when a tragedy occurs and to say, 'You know, you need to do more,'" said Suzin Bartley, executive director of the Children's Trust, then making reference to Jeremiah Oliver, the 5-year-old Fitchburg boy missing since September.

"We owe it to Jeremiah Oliver, that 5-year-old boy from Fitchburg, to think differently this time, to develop a plan that prevents other children from the risks of growing up in a family that is that chaotic and that damaged," she said.

Jeremiah is feared dead. His mother and her boyfriend have been arrested. His DCF social worker, who has since been fired, had failed to check up on him.

According to a Boston Globe report in February, Massachusetts is among the lowest-ranked states in protecting children in potentially abusive homes and foster care.

One group cited by the Globe, the Foundation for Government Accountability, listed the state as worst in the nation in protecting children because of its poor rankings across multiple categories.

Bartley said, however, that resources should be focused to help children and families before they end up under supervision of the DCF, which only deals with cases that have already become potentially abusive, limiting the department's ability to prevent tragedies.

"Jeremiah's mother did not have her first child in this state, but imagine if she had," Bartley said. "We could have had a really different outcome, and that's why we're here, to say, 'Why do we wait?'

"Let's get up really early at the time of birth, or prenatal, and join with that parent to say, 'What is it that you need? How can we be helpful?,' connecting them to existing community resources," she added.

Flanagan agreed, saying that by the time families reach the DCF they tend to face complex challenges that can be solved much more easily if addressed earlier.

"I first heard about Healthy Families when I found out I was pregnant," Simmons said. "I was 19 years old. My family was really disappointed in me. My dad actually didn't talk to me my whole pregnancy."

Because of the support she received from Healthy Families, Simmons said she and her boyfriend, Denzel Gonzalez, "could focus more on being better parents, and we were both able to get back into school and we both have better jobs now."

Although Flanagan agreed that the DCF has problems, she said preventing potentially abusive family situations would help reduce caseloads for the thinly stretched agency.

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